法國檢方突擊搜查谷歌巴黎辦事處
French prosecutors have turned up the heat in the spreading European tax war against US technology giants, with an early-morning raid on Google’s Paris office.
法國檢察官升級了歐洲方面針對美國科技巨頭的打擊面越來越大的稅收戰，對谷歌(Google)的巴黎辦事處發起清晨突襲。
Yesterday’s operation involved 25 data experts and was part of a preliminary investigation opened in June last year, the French authorities said.
法國當局稱，昨日的行動涉及25名數據專家，並且是去年6月啓動的初步調查的一部分。
It came as European authorities attempt to crack down on the use of complex tax-avoidance schemes by US and other multinational companies to shift profits to low-tax jurisdictions.
目前，歐洲當局正試圖打擊美國等國家的跨國公司利用複雜的避稅計劃把利潤轉移到低稅的司法管轄區。
France has led the charge — it has previously raided Google and Microsoft — while Italian authorities claimed victory with a 318m tax settlement from Apple late last year and also have Google in their sights.
法國衝在最前面，該國當局此前對谷歌和微軟(Microsoft)發起過突擊搜查，而意大利當局聲稱，去年末與蘋果(Apple)就避稅案達成的3.18億歐元和解是一個勝利，同時該國也盯上了谷歌。
Reports have suggested that the French state is seeking as much as 1.6bn in back taxes from Google. The US group’s European headquarters is in Dublin and it channels profits through Ireland, resulting in a payment of only 5m in corporate tax in France in 2014 against revenues that year of 225.4m, according to company filings.
媒體報道認爲，法國政府正尋求從谷歌追繳高達16億歐元的稅款。這家美國集團的歐洲總部設在都柏林，根據該公司的監管申報文件，它通過愛爾蘭轉移利潤，使其2014年在法國僅繳企業稅500萬歐元，而當年營收達到2.254億歐元。
France’s aggressive stance stands in stark contrast to the tax accommodation that Google struck with the UK this year. Though Britain is the internet company’s second-biggest market, it reached a settlement that will require it to pay only ￡130m in back taxes dating back to 2005, an amount that was condemned as a “sweetheart deal” by the UK’s opposition Labour party.
法國咄咄逼人的姿態與英國今年早些時候同谷歌達成的稅收協議形成鮮明對比。雖然英國是這家互聯網公司的第二大市場，但它達成的和解意味着，它僅需補繳可追溯至2005年的1.30億英鎊稅款。英國反對黨工黨譴責這一稅款金額爲“甜心交易”。
In February, Michel Sapin, French finance minister, ruled out any settlement and said the amount Google would have to hand over would be “way -bigger” than the UK deal.
今年2月，法國財長米歇爾•薩潘(Michel Sapin)排除了任何和解，稱谷歌將不得不補繳比英國協議“多得多”的稅款。
In a statement, the French financial prosecutor’s office said: “The investigation aims to verify whether Google -Ireland Ltd has a permanent base in France and if, by not declaring parts of its activities carried out in France, it failed its fiscal obligations, including on corporate tax and value added tax.”
法國金融檢察官辦公室在一份聲明中表示：“調查的目的是覈實谷歌愛爾蘭公司是否在法國有一個永久基地，以及它是否通過不申報自己在法國開展的一部分活動，未能履行財政義務，包括企業稅和增值稅兩方面。”
The dispute revives a long-running French attempt to force internet companies to pay more tax. Prosecutors raided Google’s Paris office in 2011 as part of a similar investigation. The company is likely to argue that it would not have extra tax to pay even if its Irish business was found to trade in France.
這場糾紛復活了法國的一個長期企圖，目的是迫使互聯網公司繳納更多的稅。檢方曾在2011年突擊搜查谷歌的巴黎辦事處，作爲一項類似調查的一部分。該公司很可能會主張，即使其愛爾蘭公司被發現在法國開展經營，它也不會有額外的稅款需要補繳。
Similar arguments have been raging in Australia, where Google recently announced that it had restructured so it would book more revenues in the country, rather than in Singapore.
類似的主張已在澳大利亞使用過。谷歌最近宣佈，它已完成重組，以便把更多營收在澳大利亞入賬，而不是在新加坡。
Google said: “We comply with the tax law in France, as in every other country in which we operate. We are co-operating fully with the authorities in Paris to answer their questions, as always.”
谷歌表示：“我們遵守法國的稅法，就像在我們開展經營的其它每個國家一樣。我們正在一如既往地與巴黎當局全面合作，回答他們的問題。”
The European Commission is pursuing an investigation of its own into whether some EU members used illegal state aid when giving tax breaks to multinational companies, including Apple, Amazon and McDonald’s.
歐盟委員會(European Commission)正在推進自己的調查，目的是查明某些歐盟成員國給予蘋果、亞馬遜(Amazon)和麥當勞(McDonald’s)等跨國公司稅收優惠的行爲，是否構成非法的政府援助。
